Approach:
Channel catfish female x blue catfish male hybrids and purebred channel catfish will be produced at 4 commercial hatcheries using the channel catfish strains unique to each hatchery. A common pool of blue catfish sperm will be provided by USDA, ARS, Catfish Genetics Research Unit and used to produce hybrids at each hatchery. Data on growth, processing yield, and survival will be collected and analyzed from both hybrid and purebred channel catfish offspring. Data reported to each participating hatchery will include: 1) trait means for hybrid offspring produced from the strain unique to their hatchery relative to the overall mean of all strains; 2) trait means for purebred channel catfish offspring produced from the strain unique to their hatchery relative to the overall mean of all strains; 3) variation associated with hatchery and individual female within hatchery for performance of each trait for hybrid and channel catfish offspring; and 4) the correlation between hybrid and purebred channel catfish offspring performance for each trait. Hatchery owners will not receive data for performance of individual strains from other hatcheries, only the overall mean performance for all hatcheries.